Step 7: Transformers

Step 8: Miscelleny

This was a brief overview of the world of electronics. I will post abbreviations on this page. If there are any I forgot, please inform me. IC= inte...

So I have seen a lot of people asking where is a good place to learn about electronics. I think it is about time that someone made an instructable about it. In this instructable I will cover some of the main electronics components, their uses and what they look like in schematics. I would like to request the members who are good with electronics to help out; if I missed a component, tell me I missed it, if I got some information wrong, tell me, please.

Note: I am by no means an expert, but I consider my knowledge (and the knowledge of the instructables community at large) sufficient enough to educate those who wish to be educated.

Step 1: Resistors

Resistors are simple: they limit the amount of current allowed through a circuit. Resistors are color coded to make it easier, and can have four, five, or six colored bands. Resistors are measured in Ohms.

To find the resistance of the four-band resistor:
look at the resistor, make sure the side that has a silver or gold is to the right (there might not be a band with one of these colors, make sure the side that has no band is to the right).

now you simply read it.
write down the first value
write down the second value
the third number tells you how many 0's to add to the number
the fourth number tells you the tolerance.
black=0
brown=1
red=2
orange=3
yellow=4
green=5
blue=6
Purple=7
gray=8
white=9
Silver=10% tolerance
Gold=5% tolerance

In the picture the resistor is red green red gold, so that would be 2500-5%. This means that it is 2500 Ohm's and has a tolerance of 5%.

Just, to double-check: From my understanding the parallel bars are for the non-polar capacitors (it doesn't matter which way they are inserted) and the diagram you posted is for polarized capacitors (it does matter which way they are inserted). I know, I realize it was a sloppy mistake to not put both.

As someone else has said, The "S" in Laser stands for "Stimulated", not "Simulated". Not particularly important but since its a guide for beginners, best not for them to pick up little errors. Otherwise, Great guide!

MOSFET is an acronym for "Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor". MOSFET is the most used transistor, but is not realy relevant to talk about a special type of transistor in a basic guide, is like introducing subwoofers and tweeters with speakers.

One thing to note is that the npn and pnp are representative of the "doping" of the materials (i.e. silicon etc.) in a transistor, not the polarity of the legs. There is much more to it than just negative,positive,negative. I realize that this is a very brief overview, but it could lead to some confusion.

Good instructable, but I think the description of the diode may benefit from a change or two.

Electrons indeed "flow" from the cathode to the anode. But most people think of electricity as a flow of positively charged particles, moving from + to - when looking at a circuit diagram. So suggesting that equivalency between electrons and electricity is misleading.

It might be better to state more explicitly that the stripe indicates the forward direction or, put simply, where the current will "flow" out of.

Also note, only electrolytic and tantalum capacitors are polarized (have a + and -) ceramic, mylar, film etc. do not care which way they are inserted. Caps which are polarized are almost always have either the positive or negative marked on them.

Another way to tell which side of the LED is which, if the legs are cut and it is a square LED that has no flattened spot, is to look at the metal encased in the plastic. One side will look like a "flag" and be a lot larger than the other side, this large side is the negative.

About This Instructable

Bio:I am an Apple Developer in College ultimately pursuing a masters in robotics. If you would like to take a look at my apps, all you need to do is search Christopher Brisco in the iOS app store. Also, i...read more »